Posts Tagged ‘Anti-homework’

Thank you Dr. Jessica Smock for being the inspiration behind my most daring and interesting homework idea yet.

I have never been a big fan of homework. If my school didn’t have a homework policy and I could be convinced that my students would use the extra time at home doing something more constructive than playing video games and binge watching Netflix series, I would be quite comfortable to excuse my students from having to submit weekly homework tasks.

But then I read an article that would allow me to give an anti-homework form of homework. The article written by Dr. Smock, entitled, “31 Things Your Kids Should be Doing Instead of Homework“, charts a series of activities from playing an instrument to hanging out with a grandparent that our kids could be doing in the place of homework. It also explains why these alternate activities are better for the child’s health and development. It’s a wonderful article.

After reading it, I immediately came up with a plan. What if I give 2 weeks for my students to complete and document all 31 tasks. For the tricky ones like learning to knit or volunteering at an animal shelter they could use their imagination and come up with alternatives which are true to the spirit of the ones listed.

My students loved the idea. I have never seen them so enthusiastic about homework. Every day for 2 weeks we had informal discussions about how many items each child had managed to document and how they cleverly negotiated some of the activities which were difficult for them to perform.